Formed March 31, 1807 (1st parish)
Ascension Parish (126,498), Donaldsonville (6,686), Gonzales (12,223)
The red 1888 brick Romanesque Revival facility was designed by James Freret. A large park sits in front of the courthouse. The building is on Houmas Street at 3rd. The locale is two blocks south of the Mississippi River. The building was renovated in 1938 and 1982 and enlarged in 2006. There were 1810 and 1846 courthouses also in Donaldsonville, the only parish seat. The parish was an original parish (1st parish) formed on March 31, 1807. The parish name comes from a small church, the Ascension Catholic Church, built in the parish in 1772. The parish seat got its name from its founder, William Donaldson. Ascension Parish was the birthplace of 1 Louisiana Governor, Francis R. T. Nicholls.
Ascension Parish government consists of a President, a sheriff, a clerk, a treasurer, and a coroner (executive). It has 12 Council Members (legislative.) Five District Court Judges serve Ascension, Assumption and Saint James parishes and One Parish Court Judge and Three Justice Court Judges serve Ascension Parish (judicial.) The parish is in the southeast part of the state. Baton Rouge, Louisiana is northwest and New Orleans, Louisiana is east. The Mississippi River runs through the center of the parish from northwest to southeast. The parish center is 20.4 miles Northeast of Donaldsonville nearer Gonzales. The parish is surrounded clockwise by Livingston, Saint John the Baptist, Saint James, Assumption, Iberville, and East Baton Rouge parishes.
The area of the parish is 303 square miles. It is 61 out of 64 in the state. It ranks 13 out of 64 in population in the state. It has a density of 417.5 persons per square mile making it 5 out of 64 in the state. Ascension Parish has 16.2% of its population in its incorporated areas. Interstate Highway 10 crosses east to west from Saint James Parish to East Baton Rouge Parish. United States Highway 61 parallels Interstate Highway 10 from Saint James Parish to East Baton Rouge Parish. The parish is a fan facing toward the northeast. Donaldsonville is in the southwest corner of the parish. Gonzales is in the northeast corner of the parish. Donaldsonville is the parish seat and Gonzales is the largest city. Donaldsonville is 5.3% of the parish population while Gonzales is 9.7% of the parish population. The parish is pronounced A-SEN-SHUN. The largest city is pronounced GON-ZAL-EZ. This parish is in the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Donalsonville
Gonzales
Sorrento
